Dan Narita, 30, who is among the first intake of computer science students, says he was attracted both by the flexibility of the course, which allows him to continue his work in London as an architect while studying, and by its newness.
“I like the fact that it’s an innovative model,” he said.
Social networking is a crucial part of the way the university works. Each week, groups of 20 students enter an online “classroom,” similar to a discussion forum, in which they find the transcript of a lecture, with associated references and reading material.
They also find an assignment, and a discussion question, which forms the core of their study. Each student is expected to contribute original ideas to the week’s discussion and to comment at least four times in the week on the ideas of fellow students.
If students have a question that cannot be answered within the classroom, they can enter a social networking forum made up of all the university’s students as well as volunteer educators. There they can post a question, broach a topic not covered in the classroom discussion or even access one-to-one time with a professor.
Scott says the amount of support students get from the online community is likely to prove crucial, as is the quality of the assessment.
“You cannot assess everything with multiple choice questions, and at the end of a quality experience is a reasonably skilled academic,” he said.
Peter Bradwell, whose report for the think tank Demos, The Edgeless University, published earlier this year, argued that universities could be transformed by new technology, agrees that while the UoPeople is exciting, its success will depend largely on the quality of the academics behind it.
Reshef concedes there are still aspects of the university to be finessed — not least how to raise the relatively small sums needed to run it. While he has put up US$1 million in his own cash, he is still looking for a further US$5 million.
Nor will the university be entirely free, with students charged registration fees of between US$15 and US$50 depending on their country of residence and between US$10 and US$100 per exam.
But the important thing, he says, is that his university offers many students their only hope of higher education.
“The majority have no other alternative,” he said.
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